1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to manufacturing floor control systems and methods, and more specifically, to a method for dynamically generating work flows for components based on sensed production activities and/or order characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today's customers demand that products be tailored to their specifications and be delivered in a ready-to-use manner. They also demand the lowest possible cost. These conflicting demands place great pressure on manufacturing organizations to efficiently produce solutions based on customer specifications.
As product complexity increases and product life cycles become shorter, it is increasingly difficult to verify product configurations or permutations prior to shipment. Currently, three techniques are used. The first, percentage sampling, involves defining a percentage of products that must be routed through a specific inspection step or operation somewhere in the manufacturing process. For fixed products that are all identical, statistical process control (SPC) can be used to determine optimum sampling rates, etc. This process is most effective in a high-volume business that has little variation product content, single-unit based manufacturing (i.e., units of 1), and constant cycle times.
The second technique, 100% inspection, involves routing each and every assembly through a specific inspection step or operation somewhere in the manufacturing process to ensure quality. The third technique, operator training, involves training on employees to recognize problems during the normal process steps and then relying on judgment to take appropriate actions. The second and third approaches are more effective in a low volume, high margin businesses.